Has anyone ever planted Alfalfa as a cover crop during the summer to help imrove the soil? I was thinking of planting it because it says that it is a wonderful fertilizer. It is so expensive to buy to just sprinkle while you plant, so i was trying to figure out a less expensive way. And then I would just till it under before I plant again next year. It only grows up to 24 inches so i don't figure it would be too invasive to like tomatoes or peppers or potatoes'I would really like to hear someones thoughts on this. Thank you and have a great day. Tracy

You asked this back in February and I don't see any comments. A comment I would make is; cover crops are best used to build your soil. The cover crops I am aware of are - red clover (what I use) vetch, oats, and legumes. I use red clover to build my soil in downtimes when nothing else is growing in the garden. I plant it in late fall and mow under in spring. I've never heard of anyone growing a cover crop at the same time. Although they will add nutrients (legumes-nitrogen and oats-carbon) they need to take nutrients from the soil just as other vegetables do. The real benefit of a cover crop comes when you plow them under and they decompose. The most important thing to remember is to cut them off BEFORE they go to seed or your garden will be full of cover crop seeds. Since red clover is a cool weather crop and is an annual - I find it the easiest to manage. Tall grasses will be harder to dig under.